Oil Springs | |
---|---|
Village of Oil Springs | |
Nickname: Canada’s Premier Oil Town | |
Coordinates: 42°47′N82°07′W / 42.783°N 82.117°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
County | Lambton |
Settled | 1850s |
Incorporated | 1865 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Ian Veen |
• Federal riding | Sarnia—Lambton |
• Prov. riding | Sarnia—Lambton |
Area | |
• Land | 8.14 km2 (3.14 sq mi) |
Population (2021) [1] | |
• Total | 647 |
• Density | 79.5/km2 (206/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Postal Code | N0N 1P0 |
Area code(s) | 519 and 226 |
Website | www.oilsprings.ca |
Oil Springs is a village in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, located along Former Provincial Highway 21 south of Oil City. The village, an enclave within Enniskillen Township, is the site of North America's first commercial oil well. It is home to the Oil Museum of Canada.
Before the village was formed, the indigenous people already knew about the gum beds and used the sticky oil to waterproof their canoes. [2] The place, originally called Black Creek, became the site of North America's first commercial oil well when asphalt producer James Miller Williams set out to dig a water well in September 1858 and found free oil instead. [3] [4]
Williams' discovery triggered North America's first oil rush and the village's name was changed to Oil Springs that same year. [5] Within a few years, Oil Springs was a bustling town with four thousand residents and in its peak days boasted paved roads, horse-drawn buses and street lamps.
John Henry Fairbank, a surveyor turned oil man who came to Oil Springs in 1861, bought some property and despite incurring debts and suffering family tragedies, Fairbank struck it rich, founding the successful Fairbank Oil Company that is now the oldest petroleum company in the world. He also invented the jerker line, a method used to pump oil to the surface from multiple wells using a shared steam engine. Jerker lines are still used to pump oil in Oil Springs today. [2] [6]
On January 16, 1862, John Shaw using a springboard to chip through rock, created Canada's first oil gusher (located on Gypsie Flats Road). [7] It shot oil from over 60 metres (200 ft) below ground to above the treetops at a rate of 3000 barrels per day. [8] A year later, a plank road was built from Oil Springs to Wyoming rail station. [5]
In 1865, the place separated from Enniskillen Township and was incorporated as a village. A year later, Bernard King struck oil at Petrolia, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Oil Springs. Petrolia quickly replaced Oil Springs as Canada's oil capital, leaving Oil Springs almost abandoned. [5]
In 1881, more oil was discovered at a deeper level, resulting in another oil boom for Oil Springs. Two oil pipelines were built to Petrolia, and in 1886, a spur line of the Canada Southern Railway connected the village to Oil City (operating until 1960). [5]
In 1914, Charles Fairbank, son of John Henry, found a gas gusher in Oil Springs that was deemed the biggest gusher in Canada. [5] [6]
In the 1930s, a fire destroyed all of the original oil rigs on William's property and by 1974, the last receiving station of Imperial Oil closed. [6]
In 2008, the 150th anniversary of Williams' discovery, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating this first commercial oil well, featuring portraits of Charles Tripp and Williams. [9]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Oil Springs had a population of 647 living in 267 of its 283 total private dwellings, a change of -0.2% from its 2016 population of 648. With a land area of 8.14 km2 (3.14 sq mi), it had a population density of 79.5/km2 (205.9/sq mi) in 2021. [13]
2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 647 (-0.2% from 2016) | 648 (-8.0% from 2011) | 704 (-1.8% from 2006) |
Land area | 8.14 km2 (3.14 sq mi) | 8.19 km2 (3.16 sq mi) | 8.18 km2 (3.16 sq mi) |
Population density | 79.5/km2 (206/sq mi) | 79.1/km2 (205/sq mi) | 86.1/km2 (223/sq mi) |
Median age | 40.8 (M: 40.8, F: 41.2) | 45.6 (M: 43.0, F: 48.1) | 41.5 (M: 40.4, F: 43.7) |
Private dwellings | 265 (total) | 285 (total) | 302 (total) |
Median household income | $76,288 |
Brighton is a town in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) east of Toronto and 100 km (62 mi) west of Kingston. It is traversed by both Highway 401 and the former Highway 2. The west end of the Murray Canal that leads east to the Bay of Quinte is at the east end of the town.
Dawn-Euphemia is a township in southwestern Ontario, Canada, in Lambton County. Residents primarily are employed by the agricultural industry, or by local industries such as Union Gas distribution centre, along with various smaller agricultural manufacturers or service providers. The township municipal office is located in Rutherford.
Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Clair and Chatham-Kent. Lambton County's northeastern border follows the Ausable River and Parkhill Creek north until it reaches Lake Huron at the beach community of Grand Bend. The county seat is in the Town of Plympton-Wyoming.
Petrolia is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is part of Lambton County and is surrounded by Enniskillen Township. It is billed as "Canada's Victorian Oil Town" and is often credited with starting the oil industry in North America, a claim shared with the nearby town of Oil Springs.
Sarnia—Lambton is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. It is located in the area of the city of Sarnia, in the southwest corner of the province of Ontario.
The Municipality of Arran–Elderslie is a township in Bruce County in Western Ontario, Canada. The township is located at the headwaters of the Sauble River, and the Saugeen River forms the northwestern boundary.
Englehart is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the Blanche River in the Timiskaming District.
Central Manitoulin is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located on Manitoulin Island and in Manitoulin District.
Bayham is a municipality in the southeast corner of Elgin County, Ontario, Canada. It is south of the town of Tillsonburg and Oxford County.
James Miller Williams was a Canadian-American businessman and politician. Williams is best known for establishing the first commercially successful oil well in 1858 and igniting the first oil boom in North America. Williams is commonly viewed as the father of the petroleum industry in Canada.
Hilton is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, comprising the southeast quadrant of St. Joseph Island in the Algoma District. It surrounds, but does not include, the independent village of Hilton Beach.
John Henry Fairbank was variously a surveyor, oilman, inventor, banker, politician and fire chief in Lambton County, Ontario. Fairbank is best known for his invention of the jerker-line pumping system, which quickly spread across the world its introduction in the mid-1860s. Fairbank Oil, established by Fairbank in 1861, is the oldest continually operating petroleum company, and the company's property, known as the "First Commercial Oil Field", is included in the List of National Historic Sites of Canada in Ontario.
Brooke-Alvinston is a township municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within Lambton County. It was formed on January 1, 2001, when the Township of Brooke was amalgamated with the Village of Alvinston.
Enniskillen is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, within Lambton County. It is located at the intersection of Highway 21 and Rokeby Line. The economy of the township is based on agriculture. It was named after Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole's father who was the Earl of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
Osler is a town in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, founded in the 1890s. The community was named after Sir Edmund Boyd Osler (1845–1924), who was an Ontario-based explorer, railroad financier, and Member of Parliament.
Charles Nelson Tripp was a bitumen businessman in Ontario. Tripp is best known for his role in the formation of the International Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1854, the world's first incorporated oil company. Tripp and his brother Henry were among the first to exploit Enniskillen Township's bitumen deposits following Thomas Sterry Hunt and Alexander Murray's reports on the region and helped kickstart the first oil boom in Enniskillen Township.
Major Charles Oliver Fairbank (1858–1925) was a Canadian oilman and military officer and M.D. who served in the First World War.
Hugh Nixon Shaw is an Irish-Canadian oil producer and businessman. Shaw is best known for being misidentified as the discoverer of the Shaw well, Canada's first oil gusher, on January 16, 1862.
John Shaw was an American oil driller, businessman and photographer. Shaw is best known for striking Canada's first oil gusher at Oil Springs on January 16, 1862. Shaw's oil gusher marked the beginning of the first oil boom in Enniskillen Township, as speculators rushed to Oil Springs seeking similar fortunes.
The International Drillers is the name given to the more than 500 drillers from Lambton County who worked in oil fields across the world between December 1873 to the mid-1940s. Many of the International Drillers grew up learning the oil business in Enniskillen County and provided the skilled labour, expertise and technology necessary for the development of the global petroleum industry.